Display apparatus



April 28, 1931. CRAIG 1,802,755

DisPLAY APPARATUS Filed Jan. 7. 1929 N \k.,..... M

/ tww s Patented Apr. 28, 1931 2 entree; st-Ares paraar v RICHARD n. CRAIG, or SAN Antonio, riikesessienon, BYJVLESNE Assrenivrnnrs, fro

. THDIVIAS W. IEENEFEE, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS nrsrtAY ArrARAr s *ofi inai application filed necember 2'9, 1925, seria1 No. 78,244. Divided and this application filed 1mm 7,1929. smisasai a.

This invention relates to displaya-pp'aratus and more particularly to a sign of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 1,698,219, issued January 8, 1929, of which the presentapplication constitutes a division.

One object of sign which may be employed for advertising purposes and will not only attract the attention of a person but be so interesting that it will hold the at ention of the observer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign having subject matter painted thereon in pigment colors and subjected to theefiect of spectral colors emitted by colored lights so that by turning the lights on and off the appearance of the advertising matter upon the sign board may be changed due to the light rays absorbing certain of the pigment colors.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein there is shown a sign board and companion lighting means.

In the description which is to follow reference will be made to pigment colors, and by this term are meant colored pigments or the colors in which the images are represented on the display surface. Reference will also be made to spectral colors and by this is meant the colors of the spectrum as represented by the colored light rays. Reference will likewise be made to neutral colors, and by neutral colors is meant colors which do not materially change under spectral color illumination or, in other words, those colors which display no decided color characteristics such as relate to primary colors.

The drawing illustrates one application of the principles of the invention and referring thereto it will be seen that the numeral 1 indicates in general the display surface. In this embodiment of the invention, the left hand port-ion of the display surface is painted to provide a dark neutral background 52 and the right hand portion is painted to provide a light neutral background 54. Upon these backgrounds appear in red the words Spark and Plug, indicated by the numerals 51 and 53, and bet-ween these words appears a repre sentation of a spark plug 57 which is painted the invention is to provide a matter being such that-they in neutral color contrasting with the background 52 and is so disposed upon the [sign board thatit overlies the dark and light arrangement the v backgrounds." By this words Spark and Plug may be blotted out by spectral rays but the representation of the spark plug will at all times be visible. This is merely one example of advertising board.

'lhe inventioncontemplates successive illumination of the display surface of the sign y red and blue lights, and while any source of illumination may be employed, 'erable to arrange, in proximity to the board and 'inposition to illuminate the sani'efa plurality of red' electric lightbulbsfi and blue bulbs 6, the arrangement of the bulbs distributed as, for e illustrated inthe drawing. In this embodiment of the invention, it is contemplated that the two lateral halves of the display surface be successively illuminated by, the comple} inentary colors and, therefore, a suitable flashing mechanism is provided whichis illustrated diagrammatically in thefdrawing and indicated in general by the; numeral 7.

which may be painted 'uponthesign,

it is pref- 7 will be symmetrically t ample, in the manner As a suitableexample of sucha mechanism or device, the same may comprise a disc 8 of insulating material, inwhich are embedded a number of contact strips 9 of arcuate forin and other contact strips 10 likewise, "of aroua'te 'fo'rm, the strips being positioned con centric to the ax is of rotationofthe disc'8 and said 'strips 9 and 10 being 7 arranged in staggered relation. I cates the source of current supply and the numeral 12 a conductor wire leading therefrom to, for example, the shaft which the fdisc 8 is niounted, branch wires 14 eii'tendingfrom the shaft to tliieseveral Contact strips 9 and 1Q.,, Brushes lean-a 16 ares'ui'tably mounted in juxtaposition to the 'di scfto respectively contact the strips-9 and '10 the rotation ofthe disc 8-, and another conductor wire 16 manna the' o ther terminal ofjthe' source of current supply and connected to bne t'ermin'alof each ofithe sockets light bulbs' ti -65 anon- 13 upon The numeral 11 in'di- .rent. Consequently,

ductor wire 17 is connected to the brush 15 and it, and branches leading therefrom, are connected to the other terminals of the sockets for the red light bulbs 5 at the left of the display surface'l, and to the other terminals of the sockets for the blue light bulbs 6 at the right of said display surface, as shown diagrammatically in the drawing. A conductor wire 18 and branches therefrom are connected to the other terminals of the sockets for the blue light bulbs 6 at the left side of the display surface and to the other terminals of the sockets for the red light bulbs 5 at the right hand side of the display surface. The arrangement of the contact strips 9 and 10 is such that, for example, when the receding end of one of the contact strips 9 passes beneath the brush 15, in the rotation of the flasher disc 8, the advancing end of the next adjacent contact strip 10 will ride into electrical contact with the brush 16. Due to the arrangement of the light bulbs and the manner in which they are wired in connection with the flasher device, of whatever character it may be, the red light bulbs 5 at the left hand side of the display surface and the blue light bulbs 6 at the right hand side of the display surface will be simultaneously illuminated for a period of time and, at the moment they are extinguished, the blue light bulbs 6 at the left hand side of the display surface and the red light bulbs 5 at the right hand side of the display surface will be supplied with curat one moment the display surface will be illuminated or displayed in red light rays at the left hand side and blue light rays at the right hand side, and at the next moment, in blue light rays at the left hand side and red light rays at the right hand side.

When the left hand side of the display surface is illuminated .by red light rays and the right hand side by blue light rays, the word Spark will appear vividly white against a substantially black background and the word Plug will appear substantially black against a light neutral background, the spark plug representation 57 being at such time visible due to the fact that it is ofa neutral color. On the other-hand, when the left hand side of the display surface is illuminated by blue light rays and the right hand side by red light rays, both representations 51 and 53 will be obliterated, although the representation 57 will remain visible,

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. Means for displaying the effect of change in appearance of represented matters comprising a display surface having'a background represented in contrasting neutral colors and having thereon the matters to be displayed represented pigment representations have no spectral ing in pigment and which color difference, and means for displaying said surface successively in the presence of light rays having different color characteristics and one corresponding substantially to the pigment in which the matters are represented.

2. Means for displaying the efiect of change in appearance of represented matters comprising a display surface having a background represented in contrasting neutral colors and having thereon the matters to be displayed represented in a pigment and which pigment representations have no spectral color difference, and means for successively instantaneously flooding the display surface at non-coincident periods with light rays having difierent color characteristics and one corresponding substantially to the pigment in which the matters are represented.

3. Display apparatus comprising a dis play surface having thereon, upon contrastneutral backgrounds, pigment representations of substantially the same color, each upon a respective one of the backgrounds, and. means for displaying said surface successively in the presence of light rays having different color characteristics and one corresponding substantially to the color of one of said representations.

4:. Means for displaying the effect of change in appearance of represented matters comprising a display surface having contrasting neutral background areas, the surface having represented thereon, upon said areas, non-superimposed matters to be displayed represented in pigments of substantially the same color, and means for displayin said surface successively in the presence of light rays having different color characteristics and one corresponding substantially to the color of one of said representations.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

RICHARD M. CRAIG. [n s.] 

